Amazing Grace(by Mary Hoffman/ illus. by Caroline Binch, Dial $14 Score:) When her teacher announces the class play will be Peter Pan, Grace wants to be the star. A classmate insists Grace can't get the part because she's a girl and she's black. Thanks to her Gram and Mom, Grace goes for it! 5-8

The Empty Pot(by Demi, Holt $15.95 Score:) The emperor is ready to find his successor. All the children in the kingdom are challenged to grow a special plant. Only one child returns with an empty pot. A tale about honesty and the courage that it takes! 5-9

Jolly Pocket Postman (by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Little Brown $19.95 Score:) Oops! The well-loved Jolly Postman falls down a rabbit hole, shrinks from a drink and goes on a lively jumbled literary adventure with a cast that includes Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy of OZ. There are pockets with amusing notes and a magnifier for reading secret messages. For book lovers. 5-10

Annie and the Old One (by Miska Miles/illus. by Peter Parnell, Little Brown $13.95 Score:) Annie watches as her grandmother weaves a Navaho rug. Grandmother, the Old One, tries to prepare Annie for the inevitable -that when the weaving is done she will die. So Annie gets up each night to pull out the treads and keep her grandmother alive. A moving story with universal appeal. 6-8.

Egg!(by A.J. Wood/illus. by Stella Stilwell, Little Brown $12.95 Score:) A dozen different eggs are opened on fold-out pages to reveal 12 very different creatures that hatch from eggs. Multiple pictures in small frames add still more information to the engaging text. An excellent science/concept book. 5-8

How You Were Born( by Joanna Cole/photos by Margaret Miller, William Morrow $14.95 Score:) In clear, straightforward prose, Cole explains how babies are born. Photos include several babies in the uterus and being born. In addition to the text for children there is an excellent section for adults on dealing with children's questions and concerns. Also recommended: My Puppy is Born.4-8

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born (by Jamie Lee Curtis/illus. by Laura Cornell, HarperCollins $14.95 Score:) A bright and moving sequel to the award-winning When I Was Little, here's a book told from the child's point of view, that speaks clearly about adoption, and captures the childlike desire to have the story of one's birth retold, retold and retold. 4-8

Amber Brown Series(by Paula Danziger, Putnam $12.95 Score:) In You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown the lively fourth grader, Amber goes off to London to visit her divorced dad and comes down with an itchy case of the chicken pox. This is just one of a wonderful series of chapter books that is about many issues other than divorce, yet Amber's caring parents and the new family arrangements are never far from the center. You don't have to be a child of divorce to enjoy this series but for kids who are this will have special meaning. 8 and up.

Millions of Cats(by Wanda Gag, Grosset & Dunlap $12.95 Score:) What child has not heard and chanted the refrain "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cat, millions and billions and trillions of cats?" This rather longish folk-style tale about an old man who brings home too many cats has pleased children for more than 60 years and it's still a gem! 4 and up.

Amos and Boris(by William Steig, Farrar Straus $17 Score:) Few storybooks capture so well the meaning of friendship as this classic tale of a small mouse and a giant whale and how they help each other-one with his brain and one with his brawn. Don't miss the majesty of this memorable story that may remind you of Aesop's Lion and Mouse. 5-8